Differences in Educational System
I had been leaving in Russia for 30 years since I was born; last 5 I spent in the USA. Often, people ask me which country is better to leave in. Well, I cannot give a clear answer for such question because there are positive and negative sides in each of them. Anyways, I always frankly reply that some aspects of culture or everyday life seem the same at both the US and Russia, but some are totally different from each other. Let me highlight some of the differences, which were very important for me for the last 2 years because I am a student. I think it will be interesting to contrast a few rules of classroom behavior back to Russian schools and in the US schools.
First of all, Russian students are rarely late for their classes because being late is impolite and not respectful. Showing up when the class has already started may even get one being embarrassed by standing in front the entire class and being questioned by a teacher about reasons of it. Needless to say, that it is also distracting for the class and for the teacher or professor. Some strict professors make it a rule for their class – wait outside of the classroom until there is a break if you are late. However, it would not prevent anyone from getting an assignment or completing all the classwork they missed. Here, being late for class seems not a big deal. Although, it’s still considered as an act of impoliteness, but not in such a strong manner as in Russia.
Second noticeable difference is the way of greeting a teacher or professor. The same in Russia and in the USA if you meet your teacher outside of the school/campus, or at the school hallway you just politely say Hello and maybe shack hands with them. However, when students are in the classroom and their teacher comes in and says “Good Morning class”, all the students stand up. It shows respect to a teacher standing in front of them and their focus on what they are going to hear from him/her....